How many people does Genesis say were saved in Noah’s Ark?

Genesis says that eight people were saved in Noah’s Ark.

The group consisted of Noah, his wife, his three sons, and the wives of those three sons. Genesis 7:13 identifies them as the people who entered the Ark before the Flood. The New Testament also refers to “eight souls” being saved through water in 1 Peter 3:20.

The number is sometimes misremembered because popular illustrations may show only Noah and his immediate family without counting spouses, or may add unnamed relatives. Genesis does not provide the names of Noah’s wife or his sons’ wives. It does, however, clearly establish the total as eight.

This figure concerns human survivors, not the animals aboard the Ark. It also differs from later traditions that expand the cast for storytelling purposes. In the Genesis narrative, the eight people form the surviving human family from which the post-Flood population is presented as descending.